Munich - Day 2

Munich has two palaces, one right in downtown and further out. We decided to go to the one just outside of town, Nymphenburg Palace, which was the summer residence of the Bavarian rulers. We took a bus tour (you know, one of the double decker tourist buses) which dropped us off right at the palace. We enjoyed the beautiful grounds at the entrance, and then made our way into the palace. The palace itself is a bit unconventional in it's build as it has sort of small discrete sections instead of one huge building. This photo shows the palace from the gardens in the back, which were quite beautiful. The front was being remodeled, so we didn't get a good view of it. 

Inside the palace, we were greeted with a beautiful large hall with ornate paintings on the ceiling, and then we got to tour the King's rooms and then the Queen's rooms. Everything was quite beautiful, but unfortunately, we didn't seem to get any photos. I think the most interesting room inside was the 'Gallery of Beauties', which had a large number of portraits of beautiful Bavarian women. The only qualifications to get your painting in the gallery was to be beautiful, so both royals and commoners were pictured. After we saw the inside of the palace, we headed out to the extensive park grounds. This is a photo from the palace balcony looking at the grounds - it was was so pretty, especially with the lovely 70 F weather. We made our way down to the fountain in the middle where we took a photo opportunity.

Mom and Dad wanted to enjoy the main garden for a while, so Andy, Carsten, and I headed out briefly to a 'hunting lodge' where we were greeted with a silver hall of mirrors. And well, we all know that I'm a fan of the Hall of Mirrors, so what's not to love about this other one? It was a bit ironic that this beautiful room was in the 'hunting lodge,' but other than that, it was quite fun.

Carsten was getting a bit antsy, so we made our way back to Mom and Dad Huisman, and got ourselves a quick bite of lunch. Carsten was taking a while to eat, so we sent Mom and Dad ahead to the bus stop while Andy and I finished feeding Carsten his apple-banana-sauce. I would like to proudly say we shoveled his jar of food into his mouth in record time, but we still felt like we were going to be a bit late to get back to the bus stop. It was important to make it back because it only came once an hour and only stopped for about 2 minutes, so you had to be there when it arrived. So, what did we do? We RAN! So, picture this: Andy wearing a backpack, Carsten in his stroller, and Natalie pushing the stroller while running over gravel in a beautiful palace park. Yes, indeed. We made it back with about 5 minutes to spare, so our rush was all for naught. Oh well. We boarded our bus, and Mom and Dad graciously agreed to watch Carsten in the lower deck of the bus while Andy and I went upstairs to the open air deck for the 45 min bus ride past the former Olympic grounds, the BMW headquarters, and the city of Munich. Andy and I enjoyed our time on the bus and reflected that for us, it was a date because neither of us had a baby in our arms :). I'd like to give this caution when riding in an open-air double decker bus: beware the tree branches. Seriously, they can do some damage. We luckily became aware of this issue early on and spent part of the time ducking from tree branches, and thus, we were not injured. Once we got back to the main train station, we switched buses to another bus route that showed us the downtown sites (the other one was a more rural loop). We all stayed on the lower deck, and the nice lulling motion plus the afternoon sun put Carsten, and at times Mom and Dad Huisman, to sleep :). This ride was about an hour and gave a nice overview of the city. So we went back to Odeonplatz, which had one of the large churches, a platform which apparently Hitler stood on at one point, the main palace, and the beginnings of the Englisher Gardens (pictured below in order). 

Since it was Good Friday, the church had a mass in progress so we only got to stand in the back, but it was still fun to go in and observe a mass in German. Well, after walking around this square for a while, we headed back to our hotel after finding some sandwiches. I'll leave you with one last photo of Andy since he wasn't in any of the previous photos:

Munich - Day 1

Last week Thursday, we all woke up early except for Carsten, who we had to wake up at 7:00 am so we could leave on the 7:30 am train into Zurich. We made it out the door with a happy baby and headed out to our train. We made it with extra time and had plenty of time to make our connection to Munich at the main Zurich train station. This was the first time any of us had taken a train across a border, which meant that it was in some ways, a different experience. You have seat reservations, which means that you have a seat, but it could be next to a screaming baby. Don't worry, our baby rarely screams :). We had a great trip to Munich, and Carsten even got in two short naps, which helped make the time go nicely for the rest of us. When he wasn't sleeping, he was playing with toys and even looking out the window at the beautiful scenery. One really nice thing was that there was no one in the seat next to me, so we got some extra room for the diaper bag and toys. Here's a couple of photos of Carsten playing on the train (who needs a TV when you have Carsten to entertain you?):

Once we got to Munich, we took a short train to our hotel, and then promptly left the hotel to go to the Deutsches Museum, which was only one stop away by train. Carsten fell asleep on the way into the museum, which meant that I could spent the entire time watching Andy wander around like a little boy who's in his favorite spot. I did not know this, but apparently as a boy Andy loved planes, and his parents took him to many museums so he could see them. Well, the Deutsches museum was listed as a 'science' museum, and it had a lot of planes (among other things like electricity demos, mining demos, and the first U-boat which makes it a child's and parent's delight :) ) that Andy had not seen before. So for example, at one point he and I went over to a plane and I started talking about it and when I looked over at Andy, who had not responded, I found that he was gone. And I mean gone. In the minute I had been talking he had made it all the way across the other side of the plane display and was inspecting other things. I think this was one of my favorite things of the trip because I got to see Andy delight in something that I never knew he liked. What fun! Here's a photo of one of the planes:

After the museum, we went back to our train stop, which had some shopping in the same complex. We all decided that Subway (yes Subway) sounded delicious to us. Andy and I haven't had any 'American' food since we got here, so honestly, Subway sounded amazing. One nice thing we discovered about Munich was that the food was reasonably priced, which was a nice break from Swiss prices. And our sandwich actually had more than a tiny slice of meat on it - woot! :) We took our sandwiches back up to the hotel and proceeded to eat and feed Carsten. At this point I'd like to mention one of our 'travel' finds for Carsten that has worked out great. Feeding him solid foods in the stroller is a common thing, but it's nice to have another option too, so I got a cloth 'high chair' where you simply strap the cloth to a regular chair. It's nice because it actually works great and it's really small and light-weight. Here's a photo:

Well, that's the end of Day 1 in Munich. Next up: Nymphenburg Palace!

Pre-Munich

Needless to say, we ate well while Mom and Dad Huisman were around. And by ate well, I mean that we had good food, but mostly that we always had chocolate and desserts on hand which is something that I otherwise try to moderate since it does us more bad than good. One of the things we tried was called 'Osterchüechli', which is a traditional Easter cake around here. Apparently our grocery store makes one of the best ones, so we picked up a few and then proceeded to make it better with strawberries and whipped cream. The cake itself had raisins and hints of almonds, and I can honestly say that I was glad that we had things to top it with :).

Mom and Dad also helped give me a break by playing with Carsten, and since I didn't have a lot of better things to do, I took some photos :).

Carsten likes paper. And I mostly mean, Carsten wants to eat paper.

Carsten playing with his new toy from Kayt and Kurt. Thanks!

We moved the futon from Carsten's room into the living room, and one of Carsten's new goals in life is to be under the futon. It may have to go back to his room...

So the Wednesday before Munich, Mom and Dad Huisman went into Zurich to go see the churches in the old-town, and I think they had a lot of fun. Meanwhile, Andy was at work and I went to Mom's and Tots as usual at church in Zurich. Carsten and I came home after Mom's and Tots and proceeded to try to pack for Munich. Note to self: start packing more in advance next time as Andy and I spent the better part of the evening frantically trying to finish packing. And once again, Carsten had a large suitcase, and we had a small suitcase. Despite my best efforts, we unfortunately still had a lot of stuff. However, I will say that we did use most of the stuff we brought except for a few extra diapers, wipes, and clothes, so I think I did pack well even though it still seems like too much when you're lugging the suitcases around.

So, the next post will be Munich - day 1!

Farewells

After spending almost 2 weeks with Andy's parents, we had to say farewell today as we sent them back to Michigan. This goodbye to Mom and Dad Huisman is especially weird to me because Andy and I are usually doing the leaving (i.e., driving back to our home in Madison or moving to Europe), and it's strange to send someone 'back home' from our home in Switzerland. The farewell has a much different feel. And even with Carsten in the house, it's quieter than it has been in two weeks.

We've had to say our goodbyes many times in the last 5 months, but somehow, it never gets easier. We truly miss our families and our friends, and each farewell we say definitely makes me fondly remember wonderful moments that we shared not only with those we just said goodbye too, but all those whom we hold most dear. We miss you.



(Updates on our second week with Mom and Dad Huisman containing our trip to Munich will be coming soon...)

More Huismans in Switzerland!

Well, I've been a bit remiss about posting lately, and it's not because nothing exciting is going on. Quite the opposite, actually as we've had MORE Huismans in Switzerland. Andy's parents, Tom and Bonnie, made the journey from Zeeland, Michigan, and arrived in Zurich last week Wednesday. Andy met them at the airport and arranged all their train passes, and then Carsten and I met them in Zurich where we all had sandwiches in the park for lunch (YUM!). It was so nice to see familiar faces again, especially when those faces are of people you love. Andy went back to work after lunch and Carsten and I took Grandpa and Grandma (aka Tom and Bonnie) on the train to Egg. I think both of them were impressed with the beautiful countryside and the Alps, which you could just barely see in the distance. We got to Egg and exited the train with a sleeping baby in my arms, an empty stroller, and 4 suitcases (yes, we had our arms full!). I decided to see if we could transfer Carsten to the stroller, so I could help with the luggage, and well, it did NOT go well. He woke up and screamed the entire way home. Poor little guy. I should mention at this point that 1 large suitcase was full of requested items for us, so Mom and Dad didn't really pack all that much ;). We spent the rest of the day trying to keep Mom and Dad awake, which mostly consisted of playing with Carsten and unpacking all their bags. We had requested a doorway jumper, which was installed and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Carsten enjoying his new doorway jumper!

The next couple of days were spent walking around Egg and exploring our next of the Swiss woods. Some highlights were the flowers around town, playing with Carsten, the yummy pastries at our local cafe, and of course, Carsten's face while eating carrots. 

Dad and Carsten with the flowers!

Mom smelling the pretty flowers!

Playing with Carsten!

Carrot face.

On Saturday, we decided to see Zurich some more and took a bus tour and boat cruise on the lake. Our 'bus' was a motorized trolley which had an audio guide in your chosen language, which was nice because then there were no loud announcements to startle Carsten. In fact, we took our tour at noon, and Carsten fell asleep on me and stayed sleeping for the majority of the bus tour (about 2 hrs), which meant that I could really enjoy the sights and no one had to endure a screaming baby in an enclosed space. Oh, and Carsten got some really good rest. I think he slept so long because we were right over the noisy diesel engine. It was a really fun way to see a lot of Zurich, and we all enjoyed the relaxing boat cruise. 

Mom and Dad got to see where Andy works. Go Andy!

Swiss Huismans on the trolley.

Mom and Dad with Zurich in the background.

Houses along Lake Zurich.

On Sunday I sent everyone else to church on time while I stayed an extra half and hour with a napping Carsten. I ended up having to wake him up anyway to make the next train that got us to church about 15 minutes late, and in the end, I'm not sure if it was worth it because I think I was only in the service for all of 15 minutes (2 different time periods) because he decided he was hungry and then tired. However, he did fall asleep right after church, and took a short nap in the moby wrap, which was nice for both of us. 

Photo of all of us at church.

Carsten in his new Easter outfit from Mom and Dad.

We went back to Egg, where we quickly gathered lunch together (chicken salad on fresh croissants!) for a picnic. Andy & Dad got the community car, which unfortunately was a stick shift, and we loaded everyone in for the short drive down the valley to the lake by Uster. It was gorgeous weather and we especially enjoyed our yummy food and the beautiful scenery. I should mention that it had been over two months since either Andy or I have been in a car, which I think it the longest either of has ever gone.

Community car.

Lakeside park and lunch spot.

Andy and I with the lake.

Caught in action! :)

After we were done with lunch, we headed up the hill, past Egg to the top of the ridge where we had a lovely view of our valley. We could see the lake we had just eaten lunch at, and we got a nice view of Egg as well. Carsten had been previously enjoying his ride in the car, but he was getting tired, so his enjoyment got less and less. We continued up to the top of the other side of the ridge where we could actually see Lake Zurich, but Carsten was crying at this point, so we turned around and he continued crying up until about 2 minutes from the house where he fell asleep - poor guy :(. All in all though, it was a fun day except for Andy's stress level while driving a stick shift (he's only done a few times before) which was actually increased by the road up the ridge, which had no markings and was barely wide enough for two cars (not fun conditions to drive on with an unhappy baby). I have to say that Andy is a champ though, and did amazingly well!

Carsten in his carseat for the first time in a few weeks. And yes, this is a slightly unhappy face. 

Mom and Dad with the view of the valley.

The next day (don't worry, I'm almost done!) was Monday, and we spent the day doing laundry, cleaning, and getting groceries (thanks for your help Mom and Dad!). We got a nice view of the Alps during our walk to the grocery store, so we took time for a photo! That evening we met Andy at the restaurant in downtown Egg, and had an AMAZING two hour dinner. Dinner is not a fast thing here, in fact there was only 1 waitress for the entire restaurant. The dinner was amazing for a couple of reasons: 1) food was GREAT and there was even a waitress there who helped us figure out the menu, 2) DESSERT! so amazingly yummy, 3) all of us got to hang out together, and 4) Carsten was the most amazing and well-behaved baby ever. I fed Carsten his supper when we got there and then attached some toys to his high chair, which he happily played with for the majority of supper. In fact, for the first time since he's had a 'set' bed-time, we let him stay up much later than normal. He's normally in bed around 7:30 pm and we let him stay up until 8:30 pm without any kind of melt-down. What a kid. :) It's nice to know that on occasion, we can adjust his schedule to fit ours.

The Alps with Mom, Dad, and Carsten.

Carsten having fun at the restaurant.

Andy and I don't share desserts nicely, especially really, really good desserts :).

Sorry for the mega-post, but a lot has happened in a week! We're headed to Munich on Thursday with everyone so I'll have a bunch more to talk about soon :).

Böögg

Yesterday was our first festival in Zurich. Andy got to have a 1/2 day off work because it's a canton (think state) holiday. Carsten and I took the train in from Egg at 1 pm to meet Andy, and then we all went to check out the scenery. We got to see the Böögg being built, which basically consisted of a giant pile of carefully placed sticks (we expect nothing less in Switzerland) with a snowman on top. The snowman apparently blows up (it has some sort of explosive in it) and the time to takes to blow up somehow indicates something about summer. You can read more about it here: http://zurichexpats.com/watch-the-boogg-burn/ . And here's a photo:

Snowman being built.

 We were walking downtown around 2 pm, and the parade route started at 3 pm. So we took our time and scouted at a place to stand (benches were reserved). While scouting, I had a brat, which was interesting because they don't provide buns for brats here. At least they have real ketchup :). While we were walking we noticed that most things, including the horses were decorated. These horses had flowers and hats. We are not sure why the hats are decoration for the horses, but actually most horses had them on.

Horse hats.

 We then found some strawberry soft-serve ice cream, which was YUMMY. And we ate it while Carsten was sleeping (go Carsten!). We also made our way back to a shady awning from a bus stop where we stood for about an hour, and Carsten managed to stay sleeping through some random bands with drums that went by. At 3:15 we were wondering where the parade was. Andy asked someone next to us and he informed us that we were at the end of the parade route, so we shouldn't expect to see anything until 3:30 at least. Well, we really didn't see anything our way until about 3:45, so we had quite a long wait. Carsten had been awake for a while at this point and was getting pretty antsy, as you can tell by this photo:

Antsy baby.

 Finally, the parade started, and we started to get some fun looks at people dressed up. There were all kinds of people dressed up and they were wearing anything from chain mail, ...

People clapped and cheered for these men, which I think was because it was fairly warm and we realized later the parade route was LONG. 

 ... extremely tall hats and cowbells (which they were ringing), ...

 ... fancy dresses, ...

 ... and military apparel. I should also mention that you see most people in the parade are carrying flowers. This is because people who are watching the parade give them flowers by randomly running up to someone, give them a hug, cheek kisses, and a flower (sometimes a baked good on a string). It was a bit strange, but fun too :).

Since we had been waiting a long time for any parade to start, we watched about 20 min, and then had to go take a break in the shade with Carsten where we changed his diaper, fed him, and then discovered that he will drink water from a Nalgene water bottle. In fact, he was OBSESSED with the water bottle and if he couldn't be drinking from it, he needed to be playing with it, which he did for the next ~30 min while we walked back to our train station. Now at this point, I should mention that since he won't take a bottle anymore, we've been trying to get him to take a sippy cup for the better part of two months, and haven't really had any measured success with this. So, when he jumps straight to a cup, it's a bit ironic, and quite a bit messier. Sigh. We'll get it figured out I'm sure. Anyway, he was pretty cute while drinking from the water bottle, so here's some photos!

Carsten drinking water from the water bottle.

Me saying, "Seriously?!" and Carsten saying "You bet!"

 We walked back along the river on the side without a parade route to avoid the crowds. And we just had to take a photo of this really cute building.

Triangle building.

 And since it was a lovely day, it was fun to take some photos of Zurich as well. This is the river, and church you see is Grossmunster, which is a lovely church that you can actually go up to the top of one of the steeples by climbing a bunch of stairs.

 This is Carsten and I by Lake Zurich, and yes, he was still playing with the water bottle.

 It was now close to 5 pm, and the parade was still going! Imagine walking in a 2+ hour parade! Crazy. The blowing up the snowman was to be somewhere around 6 pm, and we didn't want to stay another hour for something that would likely make Carsten cry (late night + loud noises are usually a bad combination). So luckily, our train home was still running, so we took it home and had brats for supper :). Here's a picture of the finished snowman and you'll be happy to know it took 10 min 56 sec for it to explode. If you want to see an exploding photo, go here: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sechsel%25C3%25A4uten&ei=Pf2jTa-NCoyhOrft2MYJ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCcQ7gEwAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dboogg%2Bzurich%2B2011%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26prmd%3Divns
Andy said the remains were still smoldering this morning when he went in to work.

We enjoyed our first festival, and spent most of the time going 'I don't understand _____', which was still enjoyable because we both like to come up with explanations for things we don't understand :).

Today Carsten and I are going to be doing laundry, cleaning the house, and getting groceries in preparation for seeing Andy's parents who will be landing in Zurich TOMORROW! :) Hooray for visitors!